Tuesday, August 10, 2010

printf(Flex 4 Fun);

If you listen closely, you can probably hear it; the slight rustling of hundreds of pages, the chuckles of the shop foreman as he reads the section headings and subtle footnote humor, the collective sigh of the machinery as it mass-produces page after page of graphics programming wisdom.

After months of writing, followed by many more months of editing and revising (it's still unbelievable to me, and more than a little depressing, to know how much you can continue working on your own text and still find things to improve), Flex 4 Fun has gone to print. It's a bit like being put out to stud, except that books are self-reproducing and there's little chance that one of the offspring would win the Triple Crown.

If all goes well at the printer, there should be hardcopy available in mid-September, right before the JavaOne conference, and in plenty of time for your holiday programming-book-giving needs. Just imagine what your mother will say when she opens that completely unexpected gift.

For anyone that bought, or is thinking about buying, the online version, the PrePrint will be updated soon with this version of the text. I'll post something here when that happens.

6 comments:

Hey, great news! I bought the PDF version back in May. Do you know if I'll get an email with a link to downloaded the updated version? Or do I need to hunt through my back emails and use the same link?

I'm pretty sure a new email goes out with the link to the final version when it's ready. Then again, I didn't buy that version, so I don't know. I'll check with the publisher to make sure that happens...

Okay, got the scoop from the publisher: an email will go out to everyone that's already purchased it with a link. Downloading from the site will always get you the latest version. Also, you can always log into your artima account (which you set up to purchase the book in the first place) and get to your download link through the settings page.

@Anonymous: We confirmed that purchasing is working. However, it's required that cookies are enabled - was that your problem?p.s.: consider leaving some kind of name when you post a comment. I won't bite.

My Comedy Books

My Programming Books

About Me

I'm a software geek, working at Google, making Android graphics and animation more excellent. In previous lives I've worked at Sun on the JDK, at Adobe on Flex, and various other places in Silicon Valley, always working on graphics software.

In my copious spare time, I write. I write humor on my blog Enough About You... along with my G+ stream at google.com/+ChetHaase and on Twitter via @chethaase. I also occasionally post technical articles on CodeDependent. I co-wrote the book Filthy Rich Clients with Romain Guy, wrote another programming book Flex 4 Fun about Flex graphics and animation, and wrote humor books Round and Holy, When I am King.... and the long-anticipated sequel, When I am King... II. Like women and childbirth, I eventually forget the pain of the process of writing a book, and will probably make the mistake of writing another one eventually. As soon as the scars from the last one heal.

I also have developed a strange and disturbing attraction to the microphone. Any microphone. You may find me giving a technical talk at a developer conference or user group, or doing some standup or improv in a comedy show. I've also been seen in videos ("You may know me from such hits as DevBytes..."), either work-related or posted on my comedy blog and YouTube channel.

None of what I write in my blogs, on Google+, or anywhere else has anything to do with my employer; they're just my thoughts, my jokes, my mistakes.